SPACE 2/SPACE - Library 2 - Volume 1.iso/utility/553/dd_demo/dd_demo.doc

Text File | 1979-11-30 | 14KB | 344 lines

****************************************
*            DATA DIET DEMO            *
*        Program by Keith Gerdes       *
*                                      *
* Copyright 1991 Double Click Software *
*                                      *
* You may order Data Diet now for only *
*               $59.95                 *
* (Introductory offer expires 12/1/91) *
*                                      *
*  Call us at [phone] to order.  *
*  Or send:                            *
*  $62.95 (in US)                      *
*  $64.95 (outside US no personal cks) *
*  (includes shipping and handling)    *
*                                      *
*  Double Click Software               *
*  PO BOX 741206                       *
*  Houston, Texas 77274-1206           *
****************************************

=================================================================
The following is a brief excerpt from our DATA DIET manual.  This
will give you an idea on how to use the complete package.

Data  Diet Demo is configured to use drive C only.   If  you  are
using a floppy based system,  you will need to setup a RAMdisk as
drive C.
=================================================================

Welcome to Data Diet

DC  Data  Diet is a unique product for the family of  Atari  TOS-
based  computers  that  will save you  megabytes  of  disk  space
efficiently  and  silently  using  a  seamless  and   transparent
integration into GEMDOS.

We  have designed Data Diet to be as fast as  possible,  using  a
proprietary   compression   method   which   provides   excellent
compression at an astounding speed.   In fact,  speed was one  of
the most important factors behind Data Diet's  design.   Compared
to similar programs on other platforms (Macintosh and IBM),  Data
Diet  blows  them away hands down!   We are certain you  will  be
equally thrilled by the substantial data storage savings.

Data Diet uses a unique method for solving the question:  How  do
you perform realtime data compression?

Basically,  several  different methods could be used  to  provide
realtime data compression:

1)  Create a single file which acts like the  disk  drives.   All
data is read from and written to this file,  being compressed  as
it goes into the file, decompressed as it comes out.

2)  Make  a  single  partition act  like  multiple  disk  drives,
basically use the entire partition as one huge file,  similar  to
#1.

3)  Run through a "shell" program,  decompressing any  files  you
wish  to  use before the shell runs  the  specified  application,
recompressing the files after you have exited back to the shell.

4) Use the Data Diet method.

Numbers one and two above have severe restrictions,  namely  that
the  file system must be completely rewritten to make  the  "file
disk drive" look like a real drive,  and you must completely back
up your hard disk,  repartition your hard disk,  then restore all
the files back into the "file disk drive."   Additionally,  every
disk  write  requires compression,  thereby really  slowing  your
system down.

Additionally,  should the file become corrupted or attacked by  a
virus, then all of your programs and data can be lost.

Number  three is extremely limited in scope;  you'd need to  know
what  files  you  will be using before you  run  the  shell,  and
launching a program from a shell can cause compatibility problems
with some software.

Briefly  and without going into too much confusing  detail,  once
installed, DC Data Diet waits until a file operation is performed
before  it  goes  to  work.   If the  file  is  dietized,  it  is
decompressed and stored in a temporary working  directory.   When
the application accesses the file,  it is actually accessing  the
temporary  file in the work directory.   Using  the  decompressed
temporary  file  has  the  added benefit  of  allowing  all  disk
operations on that file to be full-speed.   When the  application
writes  to the file,  it again is writing to the temporary  file,
not the original.   Finally,  when you exit the application,  the
file is compressed and saved back to the original location.


Data Diet Method Best?

What  advantages do you get using the Data Diet method  over  the
others?   Several,  in fact.

You  don't have to treat your hard disk special in any  way.   To
install Data Diet you don't have to reformat, repartition or even
backup  your hard disk (although you should always keep a  backup
of your data).

You get a big difference in speed.   First of all, Data Diet uses
a  proprietary  compression method which is  lightning  fast  (we
guarantee it's the fastest on the Atari computers), secondly, the
data  compression usually occurs when you run or exit a  program.
Therefore  data access while you are using your favorite  program
is  completely  full-speed with absolutely no  slowdown.

Data Diet will also compress files to a remote network drive (can
any other realtime programs do that?).

Additionally,  Data Diet gives you a lot of flexibility.  You can
exclude  files,  folders  and drives you don't  want  compressed,
choose between two compression methods and specify the use of one
compression method for files over a given size

Data  Diet  Tools  allows you to  compress,  decompress  and  get
statistics  about a single file,  groups of  files,  directories,
or your whole drive, using any file mask.


The All-Important Work Directory

Almost  nothing  is  as  important  to  Data  Diet  as  the  work
directory.   The work directory is a temporary storage place  for
your decompressed diet files.

When  you  open  and  use  a  dietized  file,  you  are  actually
manipulating  a  temporary  file  which  is  kept  in  the   work
directory.   The  original  file doesn't get  touched  until  you
actually  exit  the current application (this may  vary  slightly
based upon your configuration and use).

** Data Diet Demo **
Data Diet Demo will create and use the work directory on drive C,
as the folder C:\DATADIET.WRK


The Data Diet Front End

The  program/desk  accessory  DATADIET.APP/DATADIET.ACC  is   the
front-end  to the actual Data Diet handler,  which does  all  the
work.   The  Data Diet front-end is not required to be  installed
unless  you want to change the configuration of Data Diet or  you
wish to 'keep tabs' on what Data Diet is currently doing.

From  the Data Diet front-end you can get information  about  the
files  currently accessed,  change the current  configuration  or
call up Data Diet Tools to manipulate files.


The Data Diet Front-End Main Menu

The Data Diet front-end main menu is composed of several parts:

File   information  lists  the  files  in  use  by  the   current
application.   Information displayed in the main menu is the name
of  the  file and its current compression type.   A  crossed  box
under  the compression type of OFF,  A,  or B and RO (read  only)
indicates the current setting.

Clicking on the filename in the main menu will display additional
information about the file.

You  will  see  the  complete path  and  filename  for  the  file
selected,  the original file size (ORIGINAL),  the Data Diet file
size (DIETIZED),  the compression percentage (%) (how much it  is
compressed  from  the  original size) and the  time  required  to
perform the compression (SECONDS).   Note that the SECONDS  field
will  only  be  filled in if you FLUSH the file  or  are  in  the
REALTIME  compression  mode (see the following  explanations  for
configuration details).

** Data Diet Demo **
Data Diet Demo operates in Realtime mode only.  This means you're
going to get more of a slowdown than the method we suggest using,
which is Terminate mode (a real bummer - it's a demo!).

Additionally,  the  two  boxes  below the  file  size  statistics
indicate  the current state of the file.   DECOMPRESSED  selected
indicates  that  the file is a Data Diet file  and  is  currently
decompressed  in  the work directory,  and  WRITTEN  TO  selected
indicates  the file has been written to by the  application,  and
will  be dietized when the application exits (this may vary  with
your configuration).

Below  the  status  boxes are two buttons which can  be  used  to
perform  the normal dietize/cleanup operation now.   Clicking  on
the  FLUSH  button will cause the selected file  to  be  dietized
immediately,  while clicking on the FLUSH&DEL (flush and  delete)
button  will cause the file to be dietized and deleted  from  the
work directory immediately.


Data Diet Quick Installation

This  is  the quick installation guide for DC  Data  Diet.   This
brief explanation does not go into the many details of using Data
Diet,  but rather allows you to quickly get Data Diet running  on
your system so you can start enjoying the savings right away.

Once  installed  in  your system,  Data  Diet  will  perform  its
operations without ever needing interaction from you again.  Data
Diet's design allows it to seamlessly integrate into the existing
file handling system.

Part I: Data Diet Quick Installation

>To quickly install Data Diet:

Copy the following file to your AUTO folder:

DATADIET.PRG

Copy  the following two files to your desk accessory  bootup  path
(usually A:\ or C:\):

DATADIET.ACC
DD_TOOLS.APP

** DATA DIET DEMO **
Data  Diet Demo is configured to use drive C only.   If  you  are
using a floppy based system,  you will need to setup a RAMdisk as
drive C.

Reboot your computer to install Data Diet.   When Data Diet boots
up, you will see an installation message.

** DATA DIET DEMO **
The Data Diet DEMO will ONLY save .DOC files to the root of drive
C:.  For example, load a document into PageStream and save it out
to  the  root  of  drive C (C:\).   The  file  will  be  dietized
(compressed) when you save it out.  If you save the file anywhere
else,  it  will be saved normally.   Moving the file  to  another
drive will normalize the file.

Part II: Put Your Data on a Diet

Now that you have Data Diet installed,  you will want to get  all
of  your  files dietized,  so you can start enjoying  your  space
savings.  Virtually any file can be dietized.  Some file formats,
however,  may  already be in a compressed state,  or may  be  too
random  to adequately compress (GIF pictures and digitized  sound
files are two types which do not compress well).

Data Diet Tools allows you to dietize, normalize or calorize your
files.   When you dietize your files,  you are compressing  them.
When you normalize your files,  you are decompressing  them,  and
when you calorize your files, you are getting statistics on them.

Data  Diet  Tools  can dietize or normalize files  on  an  entire
drive,  accessing  every file in every folder in  one  operation.

The next section tells you how to dietize all of your data.   You
may want to read more about Data Diet Tools if you do not want to
dietize all files.

>To Dietize your data:

Run DD_TOOLS.APP.  You will be presented with the Data Diet Tools
main menu.

Click on the DIETIZE button.   You will be presented with a file
selector.

Use the file selector to choose the drive to dietize, making sure
you  are on the root directory of the chosen drive (for  example:
C:\).   If you do not wish to dietize an entire drive, simply use
the file selector to go into a specific directory.

Type *.* in the SELECTION field.

Click on the OK button.   Data Diet Tools will begin  compressing
all data on the specified drive, displaying information about the
files as they are dietized.   When the task is done, you will see
a message displayed.

Repeat from step #2 for the remaining drives.

All  of the files which could be compressed are now in Data  Diet
format.   Some  files  are  never compressed as  defined  in  the
DATADIET.INF file.   The files specifically excluded are  usually
programs and archive files.   To compress programs, you will need
to use DC Squish next.

** DATA DIET DEMO **
Data Diet Demo will only batch dietize *.DOC files on the root of
drive C.  The DATADIET.INF file is built into the demo.

Step III: Squish Your Programs

DC  Data  Diet  is a complete solution  for  data  storage  space
savings.   The  first part is Data Diet itself,  for  compressing
anything that is not executable.   The second part is DC  Squish,
which compresses executable files (GEM and TOS programs and  desk
accessories).

DC Squish is a rock-solid, proven product that will compress your
executable files, yet still leave them 100% executable.

>To Squish your executable files:

Run DCSQUISH.PRG.  The main menu will appear.

Click on the AL button so it is not selected.

Click on the KO button so it is not selected.

Click on the D=S button so it is selected.

Click on the TPA button so it is selected.

Click on the SQUISH button.  A file selector will appear.

Use the file selector to locate the path (folder) to Squish.

Type *.* in the SELECTION field.

Click on OK.

DC Squish will now compress any file that it can compress.   Note
that  DC  Squish  does  not  perform  a  fully  recursive   batch
compression, so you will need to specify each and every folder to
Squish.

** DATA DIET DEMO **
DC Squish 1.4 Demo will not save squished executables.

Suggested Reading

We  suggest you read the rest of the manual to become  completely
familiar with the options available with DC Data Diet.   Although
Data Diet can be installed and then forgotten about, you may find
times  when you wish to configure it for optimal  performance  on
your system.

** DATA DIET DEMO **
We suggest you buy Data Diet in order to read the manual.  <grin>